Whoever started the fire last week in Baker City’s watershed probably figured the diminutive blaze was of little consequence.

Luckily, they were right.

Yet that fire, though it burned less than one-tenth of an acre before
four Forest Service firefighters put it out Friday evening, could have
left the city’s 4,000 or so households with dry faucets and a hefty
bill to get them flowing again.

The fire might prompt city officials to cancel hunters’ privileges to
legally walk into the watershed and go after a deer or an elk.